When I Awakened

The Escape

   I wake up to a bluebird visiting me. It has beautiful blue feathers and a loud screech to its chirp. I look around me, and there were no guards to be seen. I roll my wrist and realize nothing was rubbing against them. Looking down, I see my hands are free, and my feet are free as well. A smile spreads across my face, and I make a run for it.

   Making it outside, I see the blue sky, surrounded by white clouds. I look around and see Elijah walking down a sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. I start running.

   "Elijah!" I scream, tripping on my face.

   He looks over at me, shocked and relieved. He runs over to make sure I didn't hurt myself.

   "Woah, Sky, are you okay?" he questions. 

   "You should know by now that I'm not," I joke.

   He laughs and looks around us to make sure we aren't being watched.

   "We have to go, now, before they find us," he proclaims, tugging my arm as he starts to run.

   I start running faster than him and find a building to run into--the post office. Inside, couples are standing in lines. We head to the window to find the military marching alongside the sidewalk. We have to get out of here.

   "Do you know where the military base is? We need to go there to shut this thing down." I whisper.

   Elijah looks at me and nods. He gives me his smile, which makes my heart beat out of my chest.

   He pulls out a map that pinpoints our way to the military base. Looking at it, I see the trail highlighted in red. I bite my lip and try to find where we are.

   "We are right here," Elijah tells me, pointing at a black dot followed by the words 'Post Office', "and we have to walk to here."

   "But that's a two-day walk," I complain.

   "Then we better get going."

   He takes my hand and we sneak out only to get shoved to the ground by a military man. I can't see what he looks like because he's wearing a mask. He looks left, right, and then back down at me. Hastily, he extends his arm out.

   "Hurry up, now. You must hurry," I hear a familiar voice tell us.

   I grab his hand out of instinct, and he helps me up. He takes off and I run the other way following Elijah.

   "That was pretty weird what that military man did back there. Why didn't he take me?" I ask him.

   Elijah doesn't look back. Not even a word escapes his lips. I freeze, noticing his silence and seeing that he's not walking anymore. It's as if he were waiting for something,

   "Elijah, is something wrong?"

   Silence fills the air and he looks over to me. I can see the nervousness on his face.

   "Skylar...on my count, run for your life," he swallows.

   "Wait, what are we running from?" I question.

   Just before I could get a response, a lion jumps out and lands in front of me. As it steps forward to take a bite of my flesh, Elijah stabs it with a stick, making it wince in pain. I can hear a scream escape my lips, and I cover my mouth in shock.

   Both of us are trying to catch our breath and wrap our heads around what had just happened. A lion almost ate me alive! How am I supposed to feel about this? I feel myself trembling before falling to the ground.

   "Sky, calm down!" Elijah instructs me.

   "Where in the world did the lion come from?!" I ask in shock. "We're in the street!"

   Elijah looks at me and shrugs his shoulders.